Just found this video again I thought they had taken it down but it has resurged again. This is awesome its just a rare, up-close, look at Vinnie rehearsing before a show. Its like you were there just a fly in the wall. Very intriguing!

Just found this video again I thought they had taken it down but it has resurged again. This is awesome its just a rare, up-close, look at Vinnie rehearsing before a show. Its like you were there just a fly in the wall. Very intriguing!

thank God! heres a '91 sting gig that i havent seen before on the tube. great gig with a high degree of musicianship all round and very fierce vinnie.

I believe the Sting 40th birthday concert was originally available only on Laserdisc in Japan. I got (and still have) a very high quality audio CD from the radio broadcast of the gig. It has an amazing energy, due in no small part to Vinnie's playing. He really was very energetic in the early time with Sting ("Soul Cages" tour) and I loved the sound of his Yamaha Maple Custom set.

His snare sound on this tour was awesome too & I think the cymbals included Platinum Ping Ride / Platinum Quick Beats.

Yeah I like this one a lot because its stuff that he never recorded with Sting. He was just starting on the first tours with him so its just interesting to hear Vinnie's playing as opposed to the other guys Sting played with.

Does anyone know where I can download the Baked Potato gig with Vinnie, you know the one with the camera behind the drums on youtube? I have a slow internet connection and I'd like to download the video in HD once and for all and be able to watch it whenever.

I challenge tomgadd to provide the proof of what Vinnie "supposedly" said. Im not defending VC but that seems very uncharacteristic of him to not give credit to where it's due... I think that for tomgadd the only problem with VC is he's not Steve Gadd...

I challenge tomgadd to provide the proof of what Vinnie "supposedly" said. Im not defending VC but that seems very uncharacteristic of him to not give credit to where it's due... I think that for tomgadd the only problem with VC is he's not Steve Gadd...

Which post are you referring to?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMNY

Who's sticks will he be using, the Dave Weckl series or the Steve Gadd series?

Since Vic Firth won't make him a Signature model, he's gonna go for the Tomas Haake stick.

NO HOLDING BACK. The compositions set them up to give it everything they have, and the connection between these guys is the result of decades of playing together. This is honestly some of the most amazing footage I've ever seen.

I'm sure somebody has already posted this story but it deserves a re-posting. Vinnie, to me, is utterly ineffible. I can't even come up with adequate adjectives to describe him, honestly. Saw him in 1996 with Sting after already being aware of the guy and being a fan. As a result, I literally listened to every note, every cymbal hit, every wack of the drums and telling you folks, not one mistake and misplaced, out-of-time note. I don't know what he's paid for his services but he deserves every penny.

Steve Vai wrote of his first experience of Vinnie at his rehearsal for Zappa:

"(Vinnie's) one of the most amazing sight-readers that ever existed on the instrument. One day we were in a Frank rehearsal, this was early '80s, and Frank brought in this piece of music called "Mo 'N Herb's Vacation." Just unbelievably complex. All the drums were written out, just like "The Black Page" except even more complex. There were these runs of like 17 over 3 and every drumhead is notated differently. And there were a whole bunch of people there, I think Bozzio was there. Vinnie had this piece of music on the stand to his right. To his left he had another music stand with a plate of sushi on it, okay? Now the tempo of the piece was very slow, like "The Black Page." And then the first riff came in, [mimics bizarre Zappa-esque drum rhythm patterns] with all these choking of cymbals, and hi-hat, riffs, spinning of rototoms and all this crazy stuff. And I saw Vinnie reading this thing. Now, Vinnie has this habit of pushing his glasses up with the middle finger of his right hand. Well I saw him look at this one bar of music, it was the last bar of music on the page. He started to play it as he was turning the page with one hand, and then once the page was turned he continued playing the riff with his right hand, as he reached over with his left hand, grabbed a piece of sushi and put it in his mouth, continued the riff with his left hand and feet, pushed his glasses up, and then played the remaining part of the bar. It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. Frank threw his music up in the air. Bozzio turned around and walked away. I just started laughing."(emphasis added)

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, you've probably never sat down and talked to the guy, had a beer with him, watched a football game with him... or even met him for that matter. How can you judge his person on some limited interview situations or casual encounters? I'm an jerk sometimes... just ask my wife. I have bad days and treat others and myself badly and I also have good days. Statements like this are puzzling and seriously detract from the viewpoint of the fan vs. the artist. It is a shame when an artist is rude to a fan who pays their bills but it still doesn't measure who they are or what kind of person they are. Frankly there are times when I don't want to chat with people after a gig and I hope that doesn't mean "I'm a lousy guy" for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fakeflyer737

I wish there where more Clinics and live stuff of Vinnie playing, it seems like I've watched everything on youtube. Why doesn't he do clinics anymore?

If you've read recent (in last 10 years) interviews with him, you'd know why. He's sick of the emphasis in modern drumming on "razzle-dazzle" and "OMFG CHOPS!" that all kids want to see. Honestly I feel the same way. I haven't attended a clinic in years because they really leave me empty and drum clinics are so out-of-context. What do they have to do with making music? The only exception is Bozzio because that's what he does... he makes drum music. Aside from that, they are essentially just a money gig for the drummer and basically porn for drummers. I'm not into that either. I totally feel his ire.

In fact, I love reading his interviews because it almost makes me feel guilty about that modern, short-attention-span way of thinking where everything has to be SENSATIONAL! Drumming, in terms of the "drumming community" has almost become an athletic event where people get to see a new record being broken or hot licks nobody's seen before. It bores the hell out of me. He is very deep in his concept of music and the "Guitar Center Drum Off" and "Gospel Chops" stuff really is wrecking the overall concept. If you play a gig with actual professional musicians, nobody wants to hear that stuff. I totally get where he's coming from.

In fact, I love reading his interviews because it almost makes me feel guilty about that modern, short-attention-span way of thinking where everything has to be SENSATIONAL! Drumming, in terms of the "drumming community" has almost become an athletic event where people get to see a new record being broken or hot licks nobody's seen before. It bores the hell out of me. He is very deep in his concept of music and the "Guitar Center Drum Off" and "Gospel Chops" stuff really is wrecking the overall concept. If you play a gig with actual professional musicians, nobody wants to hear that stuff. I totally get where he's coming from.

I saw Vinnie tonight with Herbie Hancock. FWIW, he is still using Ludwig. There was mic stand blocking my view of the logo on the bass drum head but I'm pretty sure it was the small script Ludwig logo. Otherwise in the stage lights, I could see the reflection of the distinctive keystone badges on the toms.

I never cared much for Vinnie's Yamaha sound. He tuned them like cardboard boxes to my ears, so it probably had to do more with that than anything. I think I actually like his Ludwig sound best from what I've heard.

Not crazy about the Paiste sound, though. And it's not like I dig A Customs much, or anything like that. I have an A Custom ride that I hate, in fact. But that sound just seemed like him to me.

Saw Vinnie recently with Sting in a fairly small (5000 seat) venue...thought his drums sounded terrible, as did Sting's bass.Clair Brothers providing sound (one the very best, if not THE best live sound companies in the world). It was very disappointing. I verified my findings with at least three other drummers who were there, all of us sitting in different seats...and all of us seeing Vinnie for the first time.

Well my gf and I left early. I had a few thoughts but I was also in the nose bleeds at the center for the art at UB so take it with a grain of salt. The drums sounded awful. Like cardboard flappy boxes. Enough said. The cymbals were absolutely gorgeous. But I couldn't help thinking they were like EAK but on steroids. I think that's definitely what they were going for.

Other than that, Herbie pretty much saved the show when they did a song off of Sunlight with Herbie on Vocoder keyboards. Absolutely beautiful. Lionel Loueke did a very entertaining African/percussion solo on his guitar. That also saved the show a bit. I have to say a lot of their jam sections left me puzzled and drifting in my mind. Herbie also did a couple of solo pieces that were so far out that it bored me all while the band is standing there(waiting to come in?) but it doesn't happen. lol They also seemed tired. Actually quite tired. My gf noticed as well. The tickets were cheap enough for where we were but if you go to see Vinnie in his element, you may be disappointed.